LAUSR

Catalytic decomposition of methane (CDM) generates clean hydrogen and carbon nanomaterials. In this study, methane decomposition to hydrogen and carbon was investigated over Ni-, Co-, or Mn-doped Fe/MgO catalysts. The doping effect of different metals, varying from 3 to 10 wt%, was investigated. The catalytic performance of the obtained materials (noted 15%Fe+x%metal/MgO) revealed that the doping effect of Ni, Co, and Mn significantly improved the activity of Fe/MgO. Among the Ni-doped catalyst series, the 15%Fe+3%Ni/MgO catalyst performed better than the rest of the Ni catalysts. The 6%Co-containing catalyst remained the best in terms of activity in the Co-doped catalyst series and the 15%Fe+6%Mn/MgO solid showed better methane conversion for the Mn-doped series. Overall, 3%Ni-containing catalyst displayed the best catalytic performance among all Ni-, Co-, and Mn-doped catalysts. XRD, N2 sorption, and H2 temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), Laser–Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) under air, and temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO) were used for catalyst characterization. The results revealed that all the doped catalysts exhibited better metallic active site distribution than 15%Fe/MgO and proved that metal doping played a crucial role in catalytic performance.